I have been wargaming for many years, part of the Featherstone generation, and I have played almost every period and scale that you can imagine. I started with Airfix, as so many did, and WW2 is still the period I return to most often. But I have played Ancients, Colonials, Naval (sail and steam), Western and Sci Fi, almost anything you could think of, mostly solo. I am also an inveterate collector of rule sets, most of which never actually get played.

Monday, 18 January 2016

I have just finished painting up two of my Christmas presents, Pulp Figure packs from their Gangland Justice range. The first one is a set of five News Hounds, though they're not all reporters. It looks like we have two actual reporters, one male and one female, plus a photographer, someone who is probably the editor shouting instructions in the office, and a newsboy selling the resulting papers. All nice figures, as I have come to expect from this line, and they'll be useful as bystanders and colour in big city scenarios. They might even make a Pulp league of some sort.

The second pack was Jinx Johnson's Harlem Jazz Quartet. As the title suggests you only get four figures, though the fifth is represented, in weight of metal anyway, by the double bass. Again, more likely to be background for a scenario in a nightclub, though I can see possibilities for them as a gang for some Mr Big.

Tuesday, 5 January 2016

Slightly unusual AAR this one, because I have done two very similar reports. The first one I did (which is lower down) included quite a lot of the mechanics of the Pulp Alley rules, stuff about challenges, plot points, perils and so on. After I had finished I thought I would have preferred to do it as a straight adventure tale, so I edited it to remove the rule stuff and just tell it straight. I thought I would include both versions for those who would like to see how the Pulp Alley game works.

The Mean Streets

With the Master having got away with the key information
from the encounter in the jungle, Diana had to continue her research and traveling. Eventually the clues and hints led her and the team to a small
warehouse in the back streets of New York City. However the delay had enabled
another group to get onto the same leads. Bertie Brooks-Smyth was the backer
and chief gun of a safari group which had hunted across Africa, but during that
time their wanderings had led them to forgotten temples and hidden sites with
secrets that Bertie eventually resolved to unravel. And so it was that Bertie’s
group turned up in the same obscure corner of the big city.

From the East - the target warehouse is just left of centre

From the south - the warehouse front and centre

From the south-east - the direction Bertie approached from

Diana's league arrived behind the white block of flats in the far corner

The encounter took place in a mixture of warehouses, small
factories, tenements and blocks of flats, separated by narrow streets and
alleys. The crucial piece of paper was inside a safe on the upper floor of a
small warehouse. The combination for the safe could found from four of the five
policemen wandering the streets close by. One of the cops had a duff
combination, and none of them would hand the information over easily. As well
as the cops there were a number of disreputable bystanders wandering the area -
Damon Runyon would have felt very much at home here.

Before setting off Diana used some of her wealth to buy
Utility Belts for Gulab and Wally – these would help them with a variety of
tasks. Bertie used his contacts to recruit an extra bit of muscle, a short but
wide guy known only as Brawler.

As the action started Bertie and his companions approached
from the south east corner, and Diana’s team from the north west – though
because of consequences from a previous battle, Diana herself would arrive
behind the others. Bertie’s team were especially nervous and crept forward
slowly at first. Even so, Jim tripped clumsily on the kerb, slipped and fell,
hitting his head and knocking himself out. The action had barely begun, and
Bertie was down one follower.

At the far side Diana’s team were moving faster – Bud and
Yvette got well around the corner, while Wally moved alone down the boundary
street, and Gulab moved more slowly, wanting to ensure he would be in range of
Diana when she arrived. Gulab had regarded himself as Diana’s personal
bodyguard since she was a small girl.

Bertie's team advance - Reggie in the foreground, Milo and Brawler in the centre and Bertie with Jane far left

Lead members of Diana's team come round the corner into the main square. Officer Doyle is watching them approach

Wally on his own in the alley to the west

Officer Doyle was strolling down the road towards Yvette,
and now he became suspicious and challenged her, but she used her cunning to persuade
him that she was innocent of any evil intent. She attempted to pick the code
out of the cop’s pocket, but was only able to get the paper half way out.
Spotting this, Gulab now walked over to join them, talked his way into Doyle’s
confidence, and was able to complete the extraction of the slip of paper - so
Gulab now had the combination in his pocket.

Down on the south east side of the warehouse Bertie spotted
a cop, O’Sullivan, near a bus shelter, and approached him. O’Sullivan was
immediately suspicious, and swung his nightstick at Bertie, but he was able to
duck – however he couldn’t grab the bit of paper with the combination. His daughter
Jane joined them, but she took a nasty blow from the policeman, which knocked
her down, though only temporarily.

Reggie was sneaking around a small block of flats, and now a
cop walked up and challenged him, but Reggie talked his way out of it easily.
Close to the factory in the north, a bystander called Eastside Ernie strolled
past Diana, and she managed to persuade him to join her in cracking the safe –
he assumed it was an “ordinary” robbery. Further over in a parallel alley Wally
approached another cop – he too was able to talk convincingly and avoid
trouble, but could not yet get the code out of the guardian of the law.

Yvette and Gulab talk to Doyle, while Bud approachs another cop in the foreground

Bertie and Jane have a more physical encounter with Office O'Sullivan

Bertie, by contrast, was able to grab the paper from
O’Sullivan, so he now had the crucial combination. And at the same time Reggie picked
the pocket of the cop who had approached him, and also acquired the code. So now
both teams had the information they needed to open the safe – but the two sides
were about to come into direct contact.

Having walked away from Yvette and Gulab, Officer Doyle now
spotted Eastside Ernie across the street. He must have been looking shifty,
because the cop challenged him, knocked him down and took him into custody. The
shortest ever career in a league, I suspect. Another cop tackled Bud, but the
young man was easily strong enough to shrug him off. Wally was in the alley
still engaged in a battle of wits with his cop when a car drove past. Having
spent years on safari in Africa Wally was perhaps unfamiliar with modern
traffic, and was nearly knocked down, but he dodged at the last minute. Cool as
a cucumber he mustered all his cunning and persuaded the cop to let him have
the combination to the safe.

The action now hotted up as both sides converged on the
warehouse to try to be first to the safe. Yvette came around the side of the
building and fired at Bertie, who was halfway across the open space, but he was
much faster and shot her – she went down and out of the fight. Gulab now
followed Yvette into the open, and also fired at Bertie – again the experienced
hunter drew blood and Gulab took a wound, but he was tougher than Yvette and
was still on his feet. Diana now appeared and she too fired at Bertie – this
time he decided to dodge, in which he was successful. Now Reggie appeared
around the building to the east, and fired at Diana, but she in turn dodged
successfully, as she did twice more when Bertie and Jane fired at her. This
left Diana and an injured Gulab defending the side door of the warehouse, with
Bertie, Jane and Reggie surrounding them. All this firing was certain to be
attracting unwanted attention, so there wasn’t going to be much time to crack
the safe and extract the documents.

Bertie and Jane in the foreground, while Diana and Gulab guard the warehouse door

Wally and Brawler can be seen struggling top left, while Bud talks to a policeman top right

This view show Milo lurking unnoticed by the front of the warehouse while the action goes on around him

Bertie, who had faced many enemies more dangerous than these
(and with more teeth) now took the first shot, firing at Gulab by the warehouse
door, and scored a hit. Reggie also tried a shot, but Gulab dodged. Jane now
moved forward and fired, but Gulab got a shot off simultaneously and both of
them were hit and went down. Milo Milktoast, who had been lurking around the
corner, now moved up and collected the piece of paper dropped by Gulab. Down
the street Bertie’s hireling Brawler tackled Wally, but rather surprisingly it
was the professor who came out on top in the fight and Brawler was left in the
gutter.

Diana now fired at Milo, downing him, but she didn’t attempt
to pick up the scrap of paper. Instead she went into the building to block the
way for Wally, who had run in through the front door and up the stairs, ready
to crack the safe. Bud also ran forward to block the side door, anything to
delay Bertie’s team from interfering with Wally opening the safe. Jane, Gulab
and Brawler were all able to stagger to their feet again, but Milo was knocked
unconscious (or pretending to be so – he is braver than the butterflies he
collects, but not by much).

Now police sirens could be heard in the distance – this
would be the last chance for either side to grab the crown jewels. Bertie had
the initiative to fire at Gulab, who was hit and went down. This left just Bud,
a lowly follower, guarding the warehouse door. Reggie shot at him next, but
surprisingly Bud avoided being hit, and shot Reggie in return, leaving him with
a wound.

Now the action switched to the upper floor of the warehouse,
where Wally moved to the safe, and used his utility belt to defuse the trap. But
even with the combination the safe was tricky to open, and Wally made no
progress. Next Diana came up the stairs to apply her cunning to the challenge,
but she was only able to make limited progress. Perhaps a different combination
might be needed. So Bud tried to collect the paper from where Milo had dropped
it – but failed to find it. Brawler now rushed Bud, but in another unexpected
result the heroic Bud scored with a left hook and it was Brawler who went down.
Jane also had a go at collecting that combination, but she too failed. With
squad cars sweeping into view, both sides faded into the shadows, and the
documents stayed securely in the safe. So Diana and Bertie are both still
looking for the key information that will lead them on to the next stage of
their adventures.

The end. Diana and Wally are in the warehouse but cannot crack the safe, while Bud holds the doorway

And now the second version:

The Mean Streets

With the Master having got away with the key information
from the encounter in the jungle, Diana had to continue her research and
traveling. Eventually the clues and hints led her and the team to a small
warehouse in the back streets of New York City. However the delay had enabled
another group to get onto the same leads. Bertie Brooks-Smyth was the backer
and chief gun of a safari group which had hunted across Africa, but during that
time their wanderings had led them to forgotten temples and hidden sites with
secrets that Bertie eventually resolved to unravel. And so it was that Bertie’s
group turned up in the same obscure corner of the big city.

The terrain consisted of a mixture of warehouses, small
factories, tenements and blocks of flats, separated by narrow streets and
alleys. The crucial piece of paper was inside a safe on the upper floor of a
small warehouse in the centre of the board. The combination for the safe could
only be found from one of five policemen wandering the streets close by. These
were the four minor plot points, plus one red herring – the major plot point
was of course the paper in the safe. The major plot point could only be
attempted by someone already carrying one of the minor points – a version of
the Lost Keys scenario.

The policemen would move 6” in a random direction at the
start of each turn. The area within 3” of them was an extreme peril, which
would have to be passed before the minor plot point could be attempted. There
were also four bystanders (two men and two women) wandering in a similar
manner. Finally there were four vehicles driving around the streets at 12” per
turn. If they passed a character who was standing in the street that was an
extreme peril. And the road within 6” of the front of a vehicle was a perilous
area.

Before the start Diana used her Wealth point plus a Gear
point from last time to buy Utility Belts for Gulab and Wally – these allow
them each to pass one peril in the game. Bertie’s team used the Call to Arms
perk – Bertie rolled his Might and got two successes, and he used the points to
recruit a level 2 Shooter.

As the action started Bertie and his companions approached
from the south east corner, and Diana’s team from the north west – though
because of consequences from the previous battle, Diana herself would not come
on until turn 2. The pre-game events ruled that Diana would have an extra
Fortune card to start with, while Bertie’s team, under the Reconnoitre event,
could not attack, run or rush in turn 1.

Diana had the initiative, and asked Bertie to go first. When
Jim came to move Diana played the Unseen Peril card on him. The challenge was
Finesse, which he failed, and then he failed the resultant Health check. Thus,
as a Level 1 Follower, he was not only down but out of the fight. The rest of
Bertie’s team moved forward steadily. At the far side Diana’s team were able to
move further – Bud and Yvette got well around the corner, while Wally moved
alone down the boundary street, and Gulab moved more slowly, wanting to ensure
he would be in range of Diana when she arrived.

In the random moves, a cop strolled close to Yvette, became
suspicious and challenged her, but she used her Cunning to pass the peril. She
then faced the challenge for the plot point – this was two Finesse successes
(presumably she was attempting to pick the code out of the cop’s pocket). She
was only able to get one pass, so now Gulab moved to join them. He also passed
the peril, and then completed the challenge with another Finesse, so Gulab now
had the first plot point in his pocket.

Down on the south east side of the warehouse Bertie spotted
a cop near a bus shelter, and approached him. He avoided the peril, but could
not pass the challenge. His daughter Jane joined them, but she failed the peril
and took a hit, going down. Fortunately she passed her recovery check later.
The rest of Bertie’s team moved forward with no further action.

Reggie was sneaking around a small block of flats, and now a
cop walked up and challenged him, but Reggie passed the peril easily. Close to
the factory in the north, a bystander strolled past Diana, and she managed to
persuade him to join her league (level 2 brawler). On the east side Wally
approached another cop – again he passed the peril but was unable to pass the
challenge to get the plot point. Bertie, by contrast, was able to trick the
code out of his cop, so he now had his plot point. And at the same time Reggie
completed a challenge on the cop who had approached him, and also acquired a
plot point. So at this juncture Bertie’s team were ahead by two plot points to
one – but the two sides were about to come into direct contact.

In the random moves, a cop walked past the bystander who had
joined Diana. He must have been looking shifty, because the cop challenged him,
he failed the peril, took a hit which he did not save, and so he was Out. The
shortest ever career in a league, I suspect. Another cop tackled Bud, who got
two successes with Might, so was OK. One of the cars drove past Wally, who was
in the road, but he was able to beat the peril. This was despite the fact that
he was still engaged in a battle of wits with the cop – he scored another
success with his Cunning and took the plot point, so it is now two each.

The action now hotted up as both sides converged on the
warehouse to try to be first to the safe. Yvette came around the side of the
building and fired at Bertie, who was halfway across the open space, but he was
much faster and shot her – she went down and therefore out of the fight. Gulab
now followed Yvette into the open, and also fired at Bertie – again the
experienced hunter drew blood and Gulab took a wound, but as a sidekick he has
two health levels and so was still on his feet. Diana now appeared and she too
fired at Bertie – this time he decided to dodge, in which he was successful.
Now Reggie appeared around the building to the east, and fired at Diana, but
she in turn dodged successfully, as she did twice more when Bertie and Jane
fired at her. This left Diana and an injured Gulab defending the side door of
the warehouse, with Bertie, Jane and Reggie surrounding them. In the recovery
phase Gulab restored his full health.

Nothing special happened in the random moves of cops,
bystanders and motor traffic, so the two teams went at it again. Bertie now has
the initiative, after clearly winning a fight with Yvette. He took the first
shot, firing at Gulab by the warehouse door, and scored a hit. Reggie also
tried a shot, but Gulab dodged. Jane now moved forward and fired, but Gulab got
a shot off simultaneously and both of them were hit and went Down. Milo
Milktoast, who had been lurking around the corner, now moved up and collected
the plot point dropped by Gulab. Down the street Bertie’s backup Brawler
tackled Wally, but rather surprisingly it was the professor who came out on top
in the fight and the Brawler went Down.

Diana now fired at Milo, downing him, but she didn’t attempt
to take the plot point. Instead she went into the building to block the way,
because Wally had run in through the front door and up the stairs, ready to
crack the safe next time. Bud also ran forward to block the side door, anything
to delay Bertie’s team from interfering with Wally opening the safe. In the
recovery phase Milo is Out, Jane, Gulab and Brawler recover.

Turn 6, and the police sirens could be heard in the distance
– this would be the last turn unless someone extended the time, and
intriguingly, the plot point which gave that option was the one now lying by
the warehouse door, having been dropped by Milo. Could one side or the other
retrieve it – and if they did, would they wish to extend the deadline?

Bertie had the initiative, and started by firing at Gulab,
who was hit and went down. This left just Bud, a low level Follower, guarding
the warehouse door. Reggie shot at him next, but surprisingly Bud avoided being
hit, and shot Reggie in return, leaving him with a wound. As a result of this
clear win, initiative passed to Diana.

Now the action switched to the upper floor of the warehouse,
where Wally moved to the safe, and used his utility belt to defuse the trap.
The plot point challenge was 2 Cunning, but Wally, with his 2d6, failed on
both. Next Diana came up the stairs to apply her 3d10 to the challenge, but she
was only able to score one success. Everything now hinged on extending the time
limit – nobody else from either side could reach the safe this turn, but if
they could get another try then Diana and Wally would surely be able to score
one more success. So Bud tried to collect the plot point from where Milo had
dropped it – but failed the challenge. Brawler now rushed Bud, but in another
unexpected result the heroic Bud scored a hit and it was Brawler who went down.
With the final move Jane also had a go at collecting that plot point, but she
too failed, so the scenario ended with Diana in possession of one minor Point,
Bertie having two, and the major Point left uncollected.

In the wrap-up, Yvette, Milo and Jim all had to test for
Harrowing Escapes. Yvette and Milo were both captured, and both failed their
challenges, so each side lost 1 Rep. Jim got Retreat and Regroup, and also
failed his challenge, so Bertie’s team will start their next scenario short one
Fortune card.

Another fun game, finely balanced both between the two
sides, and also in terms of completing within the time limit – it came down to
a couple of dice rolls. I was happy with the mechanism for random movement of
the cops, bystanders and vehicles – in a solo game this adds a certain amount
of the unpredictable. So Diana and Bertie are both still looking for the key
information that will lead them on to the next stage of the adventure.